As Indian railway wagon manufacturer Titagarh Wagons completes 25 years in the industry, it plans to scale up production and recruitment over the next few years.

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Jagadish Prasad Choudhury, who was once an account assistant at a tea estate in Darjeeling, started the company. Later he became an accountant of a steel casting company and the CEO of this organisation.

He purchased the closed foundry division of state-owned Britanni Engineering in Titagarh, began manufacturing railway castings and has never looked back since then. Choudhury founded Titagarh Wagon on July 3, 1997.

In an exclusive conversation with News18, MD and Vice Chairman of Titagarh, Choudhury stressed the changing business trends and perception and also Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make In India’ initiative, which he says has revolutionised opportunities for indigenous industries like Titagarh.

Titagarh Wagons launched a slew of expansion initiatives to celebrate 25 years of its journey in India. West Bengal Chief Minister also inaugurated a stainless coach manufacturing facility at the Uttarpara Plant, which is a brownfield expansion of the group.

Choudhury said the company looked to double recruitment over the next five years. Currently, it has a headcount of 2,000 people in Bengal and plans to attain the 4,500-mark.

Titagarh Wagons is constantly recruiting engineers and plans to send them to Italy every year for training, Choudhury said, adding though this was planned before the pandemic, it could not be executed earlier. “Now, we will work on this plan. We will be making Indian investment abroad and be productive for the nation,” he said.

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Choudhury, however, pointed out that people have become restless and want to work in different locations. “You must have heard about the great resignation. People are mobile now. It’s not true that all are going out, but people are also coming back. I don’t buy this brain drain theory. There are opportunities in India and also in Bengal,” he said.

Moreover, following orders received between May 29 and June 22, the company received orders of 6,000 wagons at the Titagarh plant, meaning a combined capacity of 9600. “In the next six months, we want to increase the capacity of the Titagarh unit to 8,400 wagons and a combined capacity of 12,000 wagons. In FY23/FY24, we target to produce 1,000 wagons a month from Titagarh,” Choudhury said.

Speaking about the region in which Titagarh Wagons operates, the MD said Bengal means business now. “We started with Rs 59 lakh, which has increased to Rs 11,000 crore. All our factories are in Bengal,” he said, pointing to a decline in issues related to workers’ unions.

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“There is huge government support, and there is one window clearance,” he said. According to Choudhury, while the youth was more agitation oriented earlier, they are more growth-oriented now. “We are comfortable expanding the industry here,” he added.

Commenting on central government policies, Choudhury said, ‘Make In India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ are the biggest reforms that our country has seen in decades. This has opened up huge opportunities for industries like his, and they can now compete with global industry, he said.

First Published:Aug 2, 2022 1:28 PM IST